Don’t Stop: Fleetwood Mac fans replay the ’70s at an Echo Park bar

ECHO PARK — “Are you on the list?” the security guard outside the Short Stop bar asks to a group of unassuming girls on Wednesday night. They all turn, look at one another and shake their heads. He motions for them to step aside as sounds of Stevie Nicks’ voice and a deconstructed version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman” pump through the building’s walls, out onto Sunset Boulevard. The girls wait.

At a neighborhood watering hole like the Short Stop, the last thing you’d expect is a list. The confusion comes, however, as British DJs, husband-and-wife Alex Oxley and Lisa Jelliffe, present the first U.S. edition of their Fleetwood Mac tribute night, Fleetmac Wood Gold Dust Disco, at the Echo Park bar. The event has become a word of mouth sensation in London. It is an unabashed dance party featuring edits, remixes and original tracks from classic rockers Fleetwood Mac – a band that has become a calling card for hipsters the world wide.

And while it wasn’t quite a romantic, gold-shrouded notion of a 1970s disco dreamscape, the hipsters came. Many dressed in their best ethereal Stevie Nicks attire.

“Creating the right underground atmosphere is really key for our night.” Jelliffe says of her tribute nights. The Short Stop is just the right sort of venue for us. It’s got an unpretentious soul, so people feel comfortable letting loose, and it’s got a magnetic dance floor. We love the history of the place.” It’s that sordid history of corruption and violence that has no doubt been the catalyst for attracting lighter fare, like Fleetmac Wood, and others over the last decade to the bar’s dark confines.

The dance floor of the Short Stop became body-to-body, and the day’s lingering and oppressive heat made its presence known. With all the the sweat it was like watching a scene right out of “A Time To Kill.” It all reached a fever pitch as a pulsating “Go Your Own Way” galvanized a group sing-a-long.

But on this otherwise unassuming Wednesday night, the Short Stop was also packed with fans less overtly into reliving the ‘70s – at least through costume. Enough baseball caps dotted the air to make you think, if just for a moment, this could have been any old game day in Echo Park. It seems Fleetwood Mac’s draw knows no bounds.

Fleetwood Mac formed nearly 50 years ago and are remarkably prepping for a new tour this fall. DJs Oxley and Jelliffe are spinning these intoxicating melodies of a by-gone era to a room full of twenty and thirty-somethings. Perhaps the bar’s dance floor isn’t the real magnetic pull of the night – you can try and go your own way, but Fleetwood Mac’s magnetism will probably just keep pulling you back.

Marni Epstein Epstein is an entertainment, music, and lifestyle Journalist and resident of Echo Park. She has previously worked in the film and digital media industries with FOX and Sony Pictures Entertainment. She is currently also pursuing a Masters in Historic Preservation.